Treo 650 in cold weather?

I live in Colorado and am going to be skiing a couple times each month this winter. I want to know how safe the Treo 650 would be to take up in the mountains with me when I'm skiing (hopefully I don't fall on it and crush it ). The Treo manual says that the safe temperature range for operating the phone is 32 degrees Farenheit to 104 degrees Farenheit. Obviously, it's going to be colder than that. I need to take the phone with me for the drive up there. Either the phone comes with me skiing or stays in the car (temp. will be below 32 degrees throughout the day). Is this going to ruin the phone or is Palm just being safe by listing 32 degrees as the lower limit?

I would not want to expose the Treo to below freezing temps. I know that when my 300 was in cold weather it would be real sluggish after only 10-15 minutes. Be careful with that.

So, what do you do with it if you don't want to constantly carry it with you? I used to leave my cell phone in my car all the time in winter (in Chicago). I would power it down. If I want to do the same with my Treo, should I pull the battery off? I don't know of a way to power it down compeletly.

probably apples to oranges here, but this past monday we experienced our coldest temps here in the dc metro since last january. temp in the am hovered around 10 degrees, and with the wind chill felt like -16. completely forgot that i'd left my tungsten/t in the car from that sunday, and in fact didn't retrieve it until the following tuesday when temps still had not topped the 30 degree mark. turned on the t/t and it functioned flawlessly. i'm guessing/hoping the 650 has been built to similar tolerances.

I'm in MA. My girlfriend and I both have 650s. She forgot and left her 650 in the car overnight. It got down to -12. The next morning I let it warm up and charged the battery. Everything except the phone worked. It would not go to the phone no matter what you did. It would go to the welcome to sprint screen but would not show the dial pad/background screen. Soft resets didn't help. I did a hard reset and synced all the info back onto the treo. It seems to be fine now. Does anyone think she did any permanent damage or did the battery drain just cause a software screw up?

yea, i'm actually surprised at how well the 650 screen performs compared to the 600 in cold weather. very clear and little fading when i went skiing with it last weekend (when we in the northeast got 3 feet of snow)

I really want to love this phone but come on...I had it in my pocket when I was shoveling snow (25F) for about half an hour, and it would not turn on till I warmed it up and pulled the battery. Then I left it inside my car for an hour (outside temp was 34F) and I had to pull the battery to get it restart.

I realize the operating temp spec is 32-105, but this has got to be unusual, yes?

the screen has the lowest tolerance for cold: the liquid in those Liquid Crystal Displays slows down and can even freeze at low temperatures, which is why turning it off when it's really cold is a good idea. lithium batteries also slow down a lot in the cold, but they're fine once they're warm again. (Nokia still uses lithium batteries, even up in Finland!)

and yes, an interior pocket is always the best place for your gadgets. if you're like me, a cold day calls for an insulating layer and a windproof shell; moving the iPod (for instance) from the outer to the inner jacket vastly improved its battery performance on those frosty, wind-whipped "L" platforms.
- pc

I think I'd be more worried about falling while skiing and crushing my Treo650 than I would about cold weather, I live in Northern Canada and winter temperatures usually range from about -18 celsius to -35 celsius and then throw in the windchill and you have some very extreme temperatures.

Day after day I walk for over 1 hour with my Ipod usually on my hip and with a Sony P800 in my side pocket for easy access after pulling off my gloves and never have I had any problems at all with any phones or personal electronics I have carried, I have had Palms and Visors as far back as they were made and never have I had any problems...I have used cell phones since the days of the Motorola bricks and have owned all kinds of flip phones etc and never any weather related problems ever.

-16 celsius weather with windchill is mild ,where I am we sometimes see -50 celsius and above with windchill and as usual my gear is on my hip or in an exposed side pocket not my inside pocket and never have I had problems over the years and I expose my phones and pda's to this daily walking to the gym as well as Mountain Biking for 1-2 hours.

I havent really even worried about my Treo 650 since it came last month and carry it in one of those plastic holsters on my hip....mind you the weather has been warmer than usual this year but I wouldnt worry myself carrying it the same way in -25...

As for clothing gear I wear a NorthFace Fleece as well as NorthFace shell but at all times my electronics gear is exposed on my hip or simply thrown in the side pocket...NorthFace shells are warm but not that warm with this weather....we have to be more worrying about using a teeny stylus with gloves ;-)